Thanks to Civil Warriors for increasing the awareness of this story. With the 150th anniversary of the war coming up and the first inauguration of Abraham Lincoln, negative news about scholarship and research on these subjects is likely to increase. According to their posting and the linked articles, Lincoln scholar Thomas Lowry admitted to tampering with a pardon Lincoln issued. The original document, which can be viewed through this article, was written on April 14, 1864, but Lowry used a fountain pen to alter the date to April 14, 1865, attempting to make it be one of the last documents written by Lincoln the day he was assassinated. As if to add more fuel to this fire, Lowry denied the falsification of the document, according to an article posted by NPR.
The National Archives turned the case over to the Justice Department, but the statute of limitations expired, so Lowry will not face prosecution. He is banned from the facilities, but the damage has been done. The document may be forever altered and raises questions of how many other documents have been similarly been damaged, which could have implications for existing research. Further, what consequences will this incident have to access for other scholars to the National Archives and other manuscript repositories.
This case reminds me of an incident my mentor Dr. James Davis recalled when we visited Washington, DC in 2004 to research at the Library of Congress and National Archives. It involved theft of documents from the manuscript reading room at the LOC, which resulted in increased security. You needed to sign in and out just to go to the restroom or retrieve something from your locker. The culprits were apparently imprisoned for many years and maybe still in jail.
The lesson from this is to be honest in your research and attempt to see the value in all documents. True, there will always be those who attempt to make a name for themselves through dishonest means, which will place greater scrutiny on scholarship, as well as make it more difficult to research in archives. However, these individuals will not destroy the passion many of us have for the past and researching new areas within that past. Until next time, keep researching and reading.
Civil War History 
Sounds like Lincoln forensics could be a new specialty. It is indeed sad this had to happen. How little this ‘change’ adds to Lincoln the president. Leads me to question his veracity in his writings. The most vulnerable are those not so familiar with our 16th president. By the way, which one book about the war would you recommend for 2011? I was ten when the centennial was celebrated. My uncle had to do weekly newspaper clipping notebooks for school in Chicago.
David,
Thanks for your comment. Interesting observation regarding Lincoln forensics, and, yes, Mr. Lowry’s writings will be suspect now. As for your question regarding what one book about the war would I recommend for 2011, I would first say, why stop with one, as there are many great titles that you can read over the course of this year. A good starting place would have to be James McPherson’s Battle Cry of Freedom. For Lincoln, you should read David Donald’s Lincoln. Your question did motivate me to consider books for 2011 in a future post, hopefully within a week. Again, thanks for your comment and readership of the blog.
Daniel